


To Hell and Back

by Cames4eva



Category: Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 01:51:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17194256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cames4eva/pseuds/Cames4eva
Summary: An alternate universe Thomaven fic where everyone is happy for once. And no, Thomas doesn't die at the end. Stop killing your gay characters, dudes. -By Gisa for Thomas, with (platonic, don't kill me Maven) love.





	To Hell and Back

Maven had requested black coffee. He only does that when he’s stressed.

My hands shook as I carried the tray through the hallways, my mind running as it gave me all the possible reasons Maven would be stressed.

_#1) He’s breaking up with you._

_#2) He was hurt in battle._

_#3) They’re moving you somewhere else._

_#4) He was hurt in battle._

_**#5) He’s breaking up with you.** _

_**#6) He was hurt in battle.** _

I shook my head and pushed the door to his bedroom open anyways, bracing myself to see silverblood. There was none. Only my Mave, pacing obsessively and biting his fingernails.

“That isn’t proper silver protocol, love,” I quip, trying to lighten the mood. He scoffed and walked by me to the other wall, swiping the coffee and downing it as he moved from side to side across his room, not even bothering to greet me. I opened my mouth to try again, but he raised his hand and pointed to his bedside table. A letter laid there, along with an envelope with a royal seal.  _Oh, shit._

Hesitantly, I made my way over and set down the tray, trading it for the parchment paper that very well could be my doom. I recognized the handwriting immediately. Tiberias wrote this one. Not Cal. Not Elara.

_Maven,_

_I have received word that you and a red servant by the name of Thomas Isiah Westing, age 17, home village Carrow, are somehow intimate. We will not allow this kind of behavior. You have three days to do away with him, and if you do not manage to do so, I will have him executed publicly for treason._

_Do not disgrace our family._

I swallowed deeply, beginning to feel the urge to pace alongside Mave. I looked back at him, desperate and afraid.

“What do we do?” A tear falls down his face. “Can I negotiate it? Will my mother stop him?”

“I don’t think even Elara could possibly help us now,” I tell him. I catch his wrist as he reaches to scratch his other palm. “Don’t, that won’t help anything, it’ll only make the pain worse.” His blue eyes burn through mine.

I feel his hand get warm, then warmer, then hot. But it does not burn me. He could never.

“Let’s run,” I say. The room heats.

“No! We can’t run from this! Are you mad?” Maven moves away from me, pulling at his hair. Those black curls are in need of a trim.

“Mave-”

“Shut up, stop it, be quiet please!” He clutches his head, steadying his breath, eyes squeezed shut. The pause is long. “How could we run?” His voice is softer, more curious than before. I smile.

* * *

 

Servant hallways are crowded during mealtimes. No one pays attention, and no camera could possibly catch a face. This often benefits no one, but today I am grateful. Mave’s hand is held tightly in mine, the red fabric of a servant’s gloves masking his sweating palms. With cheeks and lips painted red with cranberries, and a fresh haircut making him unrecognizable, no one even spares a glance his way. I lead Maven through the halls until I find what I was looking for. A room just a tad bigger than a broom closet, and the blonde inside it.

Maven clears his throat, shuffling somewhat awkwardly in the darkened corner. Farley squints and leans forward, trying to get a better look at him.

“And who is she again?” She raises her chin, eyeing me down. Trying to catch my lie.

“Mary Willa Clair, a soldier in the armies.” I thank the gods for his feminine looks. Combined with buzzed hair and a stuffed bra, he looks like he could pass for a new, frightened recruit. Farley narrows her eyes, but has no obvious argument, for she leads me and Mave out a back door. We walk towards the jets, and in broad daylight, she waves to us to get on a jet with her. I grab Mave’s hand and we sprint, madly dashing up the stairs. The engine fires before we’re fully on board, and Farley slams the door shut. To my surprise, no one comes to stop us. 

* * *

 

“Honey, everything is a disaster,” Mave calls from inside the bedroom. I snort.

“Are you talking about the bed or yourself baby?” I smirk as I hear him stomp down the stairs.

“I did not travel all the way to Montfort, on the other side of the globe, to be taunted like this,” he complains. “Besides, I’m being serious. Have you heard the news? My brother is betrothed to some... lost princess? My mother must be having a stroke!”

I turn to face him, leaning against the counter. “You miss them still, don’t you,” I murmur softly as I step forward and pull him close. “I’m sorry.” He is quiet for a while, arms wrapped around me and face buried in my chest, until I hear him sniff. His words come out a low whimper.

“I was supposed to be there with him. We were supposed to get drunk in the wine cellar after pledging ourselves to Evangeline Samos and Elane Haven. Mother was to come to my wedding.” He pulls away and looks at me, his silver face tear stained. “What if the Scarlet Guard hurts my brother? Or my mother? What if I lose them, without a chance to say goodbye?”

Something aches in my chest. I wasn’t close with my family, not like Mave was. I didn’t leave much behind. And now, with jobs and a full life ahead of us, it’s hard for him to come to terms with the fact that Cal and Elara will no longer be a part of it.

“You’ll always have me,” I promise, “to hell and back.” We’d started saying that to each other after we’d first met. Through broken arms and bullet wounds, I had always been there, whispering that in his ear as he calmed his anxiety.  _To hell and back,_ I’d whispered during nightmares and panic attacks. Even though the healers had chased away any trace of injury, it was the fear of being hurt worse that kept Mave crying into my shoulder those years at war.

“I love you,” Mave cried. “I’m so glad that I have you.” He hugged me, pressing a kiss to my neck. I pulled his curls so his head was tilted back and kissed him.

“I love you too,” I purred against his lips, before sweeping him off his feet and deepening the kiss.

* * *

 

I stretched, waking up to bright light coming in from the windows. I checked the clock next to me, only to find that it was one p.m. I groaned and sat up, only to see that Mave had left a note.

_Running errands. Be back by 3:30. Don’t lay in bed all day._

I chuckled and tossed the letter back down. I’d told him a thousand times, Sundays were meant for all day napping, spooning, and lazy sex. That’s why he doesn’t have to teach at the college and I don’t have to cook at the restaurant.

I groaned and flopped back down on the bed, just before I heard the door open.

“Mave? You’re home early... I swear I was just getting up-” Before I could finish, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I flipped over swinging, only to nail a bronze-eyed man in the face. I groaned as the medication began to take effect, blinking at the person before me, dressed in red rags.

“Cal?”

* * *

 

What the hell... I’m sitting up. Did I pass out drunk or some shit? I shake my head and blink, looking around the room. I was sitting against... Silent stone? I was in some sort of a cell. I moaned in pain as someone pulled open the cell door, the creaking making my hangover angry. Then things started to come back to me. Cal, drugging me. The red clothes. The scarlet guard emblem on the scarf around his neck.

I curse with a bit more color than Maven typically enjoys and looked up. Mare Barrow, the one and only, along with Cal, are both standing in front of me. I force myself on my feet, the fog clearing quickly. My confusion is replaced with pure, unbridled fury.

“We need to know where Maven is,” Mare says. That’s all it takes for me to snap. I lunge and slam her hard against the side wall.

“Stay away from my Maven,” I snarl. “He’s not a part of your war.” Cal grabs me, and I elbow him in the nose. He stumbles, silverblood spilling. I broke it. I whirl and knee Mare in the stomach, sending her flying back against the wall. Some blonde yanks the door open and wrestles me back, along with a white-haired man. When I get a good look at her a spit at her feet.

“Farley.” I growl at her, bearing teeth and all.

“Easy, Thomas. We’re not planning to hurt him. This is all a big misunderstanding,” She put a hand on my heaving chest to soothe me.

“Then why did you steal me from my damn bed, bitch? Why did you break into my house?!” I laugh sarcastically. “We haven’t caused you any trouble, so what are you hunting us for?”

“This wasn’t my idea,” she admitted. “I sent those two to talk to you. It seems they decided it was better to steal you away.” She shot a glare at the both of them, causing both to cringe. Cal muttered something about an apology, but I wasn’t paying enough attention to catch it.

“We took you, Thomas, because we need Maven. Elara refuses to give up her throne, and Maven is next in line to be king. If he takes the throne he can abdicate to the Scarlet Guard, causing a bloodless transfer of power. Unless you’d like to see Maven’s mother die,” Mare shrugged and raised an eyebrow, picking dirt out of her nail. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

I scowled and looked back at Farley. Her expression was earnest. I looked back at Cal. He looked like he too wanted this peace. I chewed my lip, before meeting Farley’s eyes again.

“Please,” she begged. I lost the father to my child in this war. I know how it feels to want so desperately to protect Maven. This is the best way.” She let go of me, and the white-haired man released me too. “Please...”

I press my lips together. I remember Mave’s face when we were gambling with my life. I can’t let him lose his mother, either.

“I’ll do it. But we do this my way.”

* * *

 

 

I bounced from foot to foot with nerve. I hadn’t been allowed to be a part of the abdication, and I had only just barely spent time with the people that would be occupying the castle with my Mave, and his mother. I worried that they would shoot her, or him, or someone. I paced around in our house. I tried to distract myself.

“I tended to the garden, so Mave will have new flowers when he gets back. Deep cleaned everything, to impress Elara and Cal. Redecorated a bit, also to impress Mave’s family, and I cooked a grand meal." I counted each thing on my fingers.

“Man, they’re going to love it.” Kilorn grabbed my shoulders to stop me from pacing, his green eyes becoming level with mine. “I know Cal, and I know he’ll love this. And if Elara loves Maven, which she does from my knowledge, she’ll see how important you are to him and she’ll adore you almost as much as he does.” I swallowed and nodded.

“You’re right.” I stare at the ground, still nodding. “It’s not like she terrifies me or anything.”

There’s a long pause where both me and Kilorn make eye contact, a mutual understanding of the horror of dating a Calore brother. And then, we’re laughing.

“Godsdamn, she is one hell of an in-law, isn’t she?” Kilorn throws his head back, cackling, before looking back down and twirling the ring on his finger. “And she doesn’t even  _like_  Cal.”

“I think that’s what makes her so scary. That and the fact that she can smell fear.” I tap my finger to my lip. “What if she reads my mind while I’m thinking lewd things about Mave?”

“Oh no, no, absolutely not. I don’t want to think about that.” Kilorn shakes his head. “But would she call you out?”

“I don’t know.”

We stood there, debating this, until the doorbell rang.

* * *

 

We ate rather quietly, and I couldn't tell if it was because of my skill in the kitchen, or some level of awkward silence that had been prolonged to an unnecessary point. However, Cal had complimented me, both on my house and my cooking. Elara had not yet spoken. Only a curt greeting and a stiff handshake. While I pondered this, and what it could mean, an argument broke out.

"Well if you didn't like him then why did you marry him? Why force yourself to be around him and me, if you hate us so much!" Cal snapped. Elara's jaw set, some emotion swirling behind her eyes. I recognized it well.

"This isn't the time or place-" Kilorn murmured to Cal before I raised a hand to stop him. 

"Perhaps her majesty had no choice?" I offer. Everyone stares at me, and something sparks in her. I take that as my incentive to continue. "My sister's name was Lyra, Lyra Rosalie Westing. And my family, well, we were poor, and my dad liked to take it out on me and her, and Mom most of all. So when Lyra turned eighteen... There was a family who ran a popular tavern, their son Malik was the heir to their wealth and business, and so on. He was abusive, and every girl in town knew it. But he started flirting with Ly-Ly, and she... She took his abuse, to save our family from poverty." I glanced over at Elara. "I lost her when I was fourteen to him." She stared at me, eyes boring into my soul, but turned away after a moment, focusing all too hard on her lap.

"Excuse me." Elara said, immediately leaving the table. She walked out, and I heard the front door open. I excused myself quietly as well, and went to follow after her.

"Are you alright your majesty?" I stood a careful distance from her. "I hope I didn't cross any borders at dinner."

"You didn't," she replied. "I've never met anyone that... Understood." She fumbled with a bracelet, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Thank you for that."

"You're welcome, your majesty. Anytime."

"Elara."

"I'm sorry?"

"Call me Elara." I raised my chin as she turned to make eye contact with me. "Tell me more about your sister."

* * *

 

After I got Elara, Cal, Kilorn, and Farley's blessing, I was off to get Mave a ring. I decided to have some custom made, so that it could have jewels in it, while still looking masculine. I'd decided on a simple band, made of black metal, with a diamond placed between two smaller rubies. I went for a thinner band, but not too feminine, to best please his tastes. I had just finished having it sized when the New Year's was right around the corner. Proposing to him at midnight in our garden as we watched the fireworks from the capital seemed like the plan.

To tell the truth, I was horribly nervous. My stomach was rolling, my leg wouldn't stop bouncing, and I'd probably chewed through my cheek (not my lip, I have to kiss him and he doesn't like blood and germs). But nonetheless, the clock continued to tick, and Maven began to countdown from ten along with the radio we'd brought out. I took a deep breath and got on one knee-

Mave screamed in shock and glee. A smile spread across his face so wide I thought it might split.  _Good, he's going to say yes._

"Maven Calore, my love. I met you when I was at rock bottom, and it was as if you sprouted wings and flew me out of the pit of despair. I remember running away with you, and wondering if I would survive it... And knowing that, even if I did die, I would be dying with you in my heart, and that was enough. And when... When we came to Montfort a new life opened up for us, one full of love and adventure and happily ever afters. I'll admit that when your family got involved I worried our relationship would tumble downhill, but it only grew stronger. I've been to hell and back with you, Mave, and now I want to try at heaven. Will you marry me?" Tears flowed down my face, as well as his own. He nearly tackled me into the grass, kissing all over my face. I laughed wildly and he continued to repeat the word yes over and over and over, until the word seemed to have meaning to me anymore.

At some point, we had made our way just barely through the front door, and I took him on the floor, forgoing our warm bed in the heat of moment.

* * *

 

"As you can see all the children here are very well behaved. Now if you'd prefer, we could go to the nursery where the infants are? I'm sure a young couple such as yourself would much prefer a baby than an older child." The woman pushed us a bit too aggressively, but I knew that Mave wanted a toddler.

"We're fine here, thank you." I wave her off casually just as a little girl runs up to Mave. She has a picture in one of her small hands, and her eyes blaze blue. Little dots of forming freckles spotted her rosy cheeks, and her brown hair was up in pigtails. She held the picture up to Mave.

Looking at it, a smile grew on my face. She'd drawn maven and I, and her and a cat of whom she'd named bubbles. Mave and I made eye contact, knowing exactly which child would become a part of her family.

* * *

 

The adoption process was long and hard, but Mave has a remarkable ability at handling those kinds of things. Finally, we had her. Our Rosalie Calore. Home with us.

"Hello sweetheart. Can you tell me how old you are?" Cal crouched down and held her present, waiting for an answer before giving it to her. The displayed three fingers, her thumb, index, and middle.

"Three," she whispered shyly. I smiled as Mave helped her open her presents, sitting back and drinking tea. This was most certainly heaven.


End file.
